Microsoft moved a step closer to sealing its contentious $75bn purchase of Activision Blizzard with the announcement on Sunday that arch-rival Sony has signed a licence for the games company’s most popular title, Call of Duty, after the deal is completed.
The agreement signalled a truce between the two gaming giants after a bruising 18-month battle that had seen the Japanese company become the biggest opponent to the acquisition. It follows regulatory breakthroughs for Microsoft on both sides of the Atlantic last week that have left it on the brink of clinching victory for a deal that is expected to reshape the gaming industry.
The pact appeared to resolve Sony’s biggest complaint about the acquisition, which it has said would hurt competition by giving Microsoft the power to make Call of Duty exclusive to its own Xbox game console and other services. The weekend agreement followed the failure late on Friday of a last-ditch legal attempt by US regulators to prevent the deal from closing.
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